Doug died very suddenly at home in Bridlington. He loved to walk on Bempton Cliffs so whilst I was preparing the words for his funeral I made a trip there to get a sense of who Doug was.

Doug’s sister asked me to post a comment here on their behalf:

‘Dear Georgina,

On behalf of Doug’s family and friends I would like to thank you for giving us such comfort before and during the ceremony. Your words expressed so well our feelings for Doug and made the occasion a celebration of his life. We know that this is what he would have wanted.’

The festival began as a convention for fans of ‘Six feet under’, but has since developed into an opportunity for members of the public to learn more about modern funerals and to explore our ideas and views about death in the 21st century.

I am looking forward to being there and will be singing (!) in the greenfuse choir at the Good Funeral Guide Awards on the friday evening. Perhaps see you there!

Thank you so much for yesterday, I like to think it was all XXX had wished for.

Thank you …….you have captured the essence of XXX perfectly.

You’ve done a brilliant job, thank you for listening so deeply to our conversation yesterday that you could reflect the spirit back to us so beautifully.

Dear Georgina

I would like to express my thanks on behalf of my family for todays’ service. You captured our feelings towards my mother superbly and all of us believe that she would have been delighted with the comments you made.